Marvel vs. DC: Which Comic Company Has the Best Games?

Marvel games. DC games. Pitting the two comic companies against each other is such a natural progression that we're kicking ourselves for not having done it already. We've seen these characters face off in the comic world, so let's check out what happens when we pit their games against each other. It's the ultimate comic company video game fight to the finish!

Marvel

Best Solo Character Game: The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction

Few games manage to gleefully capture the feeling of a famous character so well as Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. Sure, you're still a good guy, but this open world game lets you smash damn near everything, and smack innocent bystanders off into the sunset if you please. The orgy of carnage this game lets you partake in is nothing short of fantastic; throw in a pile of secret unlockables, cheats, and numerous side missions, and you've got yourself one awesome game.

Best Fighting Game: Marvel Vs. Capcom 2

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is a kind of broken, chaotic title with a fast-paced combat system and an insane number of characters to choose from ... which is exactly what makes it so great. The game's imbalanced characters are so imbalanced that they balance each other out, giving high level players a small, tight cast of legitimate characters to play as. For everyone else, there's such a huge variety of favorites to choose from, with classics like Mega Man and Spider-Man to lesser knowns like Shuma Gorath and SonSon, that combat never gets old.

Best Ensemble Game: Marvel Ultimate Alliance

MUA combines some of the best parts of Gauntlet and Diablo to make a marvel-flavored brawler that's equal parts fan service and strategy. While MUA's precursors, the X-Men Legends series, occasionally strayed into convolution, and MUA 2 is dumbed-down to the point of stupidity, MUA strikes a fine balance between accessibility and complexity. The cast is large, and each hero's powers are represented with visual flair. Nightcrawler's teleports look every bit as colorful as they do in the comics. Deadpool is as snarky and gun-happy as you'd expect. And Mister Fantastic is not only stretchy, but he's so unbelievably over-powered that he leaves other over-powered characters in the dust.

Biggest Embarrassment: Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects

Want to play as your favorite Marvel heroes in a 3D fighting game? Too bad, chump! You have to play as a bunch of jerks you've never heard of and watch as they cheap-shot your beloved characters in stupid cutscenes all strung together to tell an even dumber story. Thematic gripes aside, Rise of the Imperfects is a sloppy mess of a game. The combat feels floaty and imprecise, and the addition of the Imperfects will likely stick in the craw of Marvel fans who would have preferred more, you know, actual Marvel characters in the game.

DC

Best Solo Character Game: Batman: Arkham City

We've extolled the virtues of Arkham City before, but let us restate what makes this batty game so great. The combat flows like white water rapids; violent, and ever-moving. The open world design gives you much to do and explore, and in a world as beautiful as Arkham City, that's a definite bonus. Plus, the incredible vocal talents of Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as the Joker ... well, let's just say that there are plenty of other amazing voice actors out there who have portrayed these iconic characters, but these two actors are truly perfect.

Best Fighting Game: Injustice: Gods Among Us

Netherrealm Studios knocked it out of the park with their recent Mortal Kombat title, and they took what they learned from that success and built Injustice: Gods Among Us with it. Any fan of the Mortal Kombat titles will feel right at home with this juggle-happy, uppercutting fighter. The starting cast is quite large with twenty-four characters, and more content is on the way via downloadable content, which means that Injustice's reign of fighting game terror has only just begun.

Best Ensemble Game: Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes

Traveller's Tales seems to have found a winning formula with their licensed Lego games. Their comedic take on pop culture's greatest properties manages to be true to the roots of each franchise while keeping things feeling fun and fresh. Case in point: DC Super Heroes provides gamers with the first chance to really get a feel for what it'd be like to play as iconic heroes like Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Zatanna. The cutscenes are fun, light affairs, and the puzzles are simple enough for your kid sibling to enjoy. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes is a great go-to for gamers both hardcore and noobish.

Biggest Embarrassment: Superman 64

In Superman 64, you'll spend a majority of your time flying sluggishly through a foggy city, trying to fly through rings and failing repeatedly due to the game's poor controls, camera work, and terrible graphics. This isn't just DC's worst game, it's one of the worst games of all time. People often rate it next to E.T. as being one of gaming's most egregious violations of human fun laws.

Winner: Marvel

DC's games are damn good, but the company's lack of boldness in the multimedia front translates to fewer games, and thusly, fewer good games. Outside of a slew of Batman-related titles, there just aren't very many DC games. Marvel, however, has a ton of games starring a ton of characters. X-Men, Spider-Man, any of the Avengers ... hell, even Deadpool has his own title hitting shelves soon. Until DC decides to step up their game and produce more electronic entertainment, make mine Marvel!